## Chapter 1012 – Aristocrat Kim Kat

Early morning.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I quickly washed my face and brushed my teeth before grabbing Bügal and heading out to the backyard. I had to shorten my training time because I had to go to the Great Temple in the morning and the Marquisate in the afternoon, so I had no choice but to squeeze in some time in the morning.

—Swish.

Pushing those thoughts aside, I took my stance.

And.

“Black Flame Sword Art.”

—Whoosh.

Bügal’s blade was engulfed in a blue inferno. The sensation of mana draining in real-time was quite addictive. It was proof that I was freely wielding this inhuman power.

But I shouldn’t be seduced by it.

Anyway, the Black Flame Sword Art, which I had awakened in the otherworld’s palace, had become so easy to use that it was beyond instant activation, as simple as breathing.

Therefore, maintaining it in extreme situations was also effortless, and there was training I had done to perfect this state.

—Why…! Why, why!!! Why our store!!!
—Why does our shop have to burn!!! Why are the blacks burning my store!!!
—I didn’t do anything wrong!! But why!! Wasn’t it the white police officers who assaulted Rodney King…? Why aren’t you blaming them and setting fire to my store and the stores of us Koreans!!!! Why!! Why!!!! Why!!!!!! Please tell me why!!!!
—Stop…! Stop itttttt!!! Our family’s foundation…! My child’s tuition…! Stop!!! Don’t take away our lives anymoreeeee!!!

What I heard in my ears was the screams of the Korean-American shopkeepers in LA who had been robbed of all their possessions and had their livelihoods completely destroyed by the evil black looters.

“…”

It was heard every time I manifested the Black Flame Sword Art.

Of course, this was intentional.

It could be called a kind of mental trigger. By intentionally leaving this scream, which was shaking inside my brain, I could easily maintain the enlightenment and mental state from the time of my awakening.

—Don’t…! Don’t burn my store anymore…!!!
—Mother!!! Motherrrrr!!! Motherrrrrrrrr!!!!
—My store… it’s all burned down… *sob*!

I intentionally left the auditory hallucinations alone.

This allowed me to maintain the Black Flame Sword Art stably. But this was also a very dangerous method. If my concentration was disturbed during battle because of the hallucinations, I could be screwed in an instant.

But I, Cheonma Kim Kat, am someone who usually does extreme concentration training. There is nothing in this world that can shake Kim Kat’s concentration. That’s why I could fight freely without any influence, even while intentionally leaving these auditory hallucinations alone.

Like this superhuman power. Inhuman power that transcends the realm of humans. In order to manifest such things, mental cultivation and training are inevitably essential.

Only proper meditation and mental training can grant the qualification to wield this power.

If you don’t do this kind of mental training properly, you’ll become a madman, as Karin said before. You gain great power with mana, but because of that mana, mental abnormalities occur, and you become a crazy serial killer.

“The power of a demigod.”

The new power I had obtained would be the same.

When inhuman power dwells in the body, it becomes easy for the owner’s mind and thoughts to become inhuman as well. Just as the perspectives of children and adults are different, values can become distorted.

The power of this demigod that I possess.
It was clear that this would be similar.

So I constantly meditate and practice mental cultivation.

But unlike mana, this is truly an unknown power, so I still haven’t figured out how to manifest and use it. Still in this state, damn it. Some kind of clue… I recently found one.

—Fusion Confucianism.

I remember that when I gained enlightenment by beating up the arrogant brats in the Vestart Marquisate, that energy stirred.

From there, I formed a kind of hypothesis.

Perhaps that divinity is manifested when I refine Fusion Confucianism. I don’t know what divinity is, but it’s something like religious power… or something? Damn, I don’t know.

“Ugh.”

Anyway, after finishing my morning Black Flame Sword Art manifestation and mental cultivation, I came inside, took a shower while being attended to by Ari, who had just woken up, and got dressed.

“Have a good day.”
“Yeah.”

Then I headed to the Great Temple.

I would go to the Great Temple for a short shift, come home, eat something, go to the Marquisate, check out the real estate and businesses owned by the Marquis, find some lawyers or other experts, and then come home in the evening, do a short workout, take a shower, and eat.

Now that I had inherited the Marquis’s estate, it was very important to understand the assets. Of course, I wouldn’t receive it right away, but since it involved interests, I had to be sure.

Thinking that, I opened the door to the audience chamber.

“I’m here, Kadia.”
“You really call me that as you please now.”
“I’m here.”
“Yes, welcome, Paladin.”

She greeted me and lit a cigarette as she asked.

“Well, is the recent incident being resolved well?”

I had told her everything about the situation last time. So she seemed to be asking out of concern. Of course, there were no problems at all.

“It’s being resolved well. It’s just gotten a little busier.”
“Hmph, it’s amazing that you made the Marquisate like that.”
“What can I do? It was righteous revenge.”
“I have to admit it. Anyway, has anything strange happened since then? If you get caught up in legal issues, I’m willing to help as much as possible.”
“Hehehe, thank you. But it’s a family matter, so I don’t think there will be anything like that.”
“I guess that’s true.”

That was the end of the morning greetings.

“What about the divinity?”
“Not yet. Nothing has really improved. I’ve been meditating to try to recover it, but it doesn’t seem to be moving at all.”
“Hmm… I’m getting a little impatient. I want to solve that mystery somehow.”
“Time is the best medicine, isn’t it?”

It’s not like it’s super urgent.

You have to take these things with a grain of salt.

“So, have there been any incidents lately?”
“There have been a lot of very unsettling things happening.”
“Unsettling things?”

I pulled up a chair and sat down, and Kadia opened her mouth.

“One of the most notable is something that happened near the east. Anti-manaists have risen up.”
“Anti-manaists? I’ve heard of them.”

I think they were a group of people who negatively regarded mana. They were the ones who saw mana as the root of all evil.

“They’re fanatics who believe that if mana disappears, a peaceful and free golden age will come for everyone. They’re a group that’s predicted to have quite a bit of power, and some of their sects have risen up.”

Ah, right. Those guys.

I remembered.

“That’s a very strange thing.”

These anti-manaists are literally guys who dream of a democratic society where everyone is equal.

These lunatics, who think that discrimination and class come from mana, which makes people superhuman, live only to kill those who possess mana. Of course, those attempts fail one hundred percent of the time, but because of their ideology, they are said to be somewhat popular.

Anyway, to me, who came from a world where discrimination and class existed even without mana, it was a truly absurd story.

First of all, equality for all in this world is bullshit. Of course, I know that human rights, democracy, and equality are all great. But that only works on Earth. Here, there are different laws and societies. In this world, only anti-social heretics would preach equality for all.

Superhumans and ordinary people can never be equal.

This is an immutable law.

In this world where mana exists, this was absolute common sense.

In my opinion, this won’t change even if guns come out.

“But what do they believe in? They’ve been suppressed, right? That?”

Those without mana can hardly respond to superhumans.

“The suppression itself isn’t difficult. Of course, the uprising itself has been resolved. But that unfounded, complacent belief seeps very well into the hearts of the people… The biggest problem is that it creates anti-social elements. More than anything, anti-manaists are difficult to arrest.”
“That’s a big problem.”
“Besides, reports are coming in that small and large groups of heretics have been arrested, but it’s not a problem to worry about too much. It’s always there.”

Kadia paused and smoked a cigarette.

“So, what I want the Paladin to do this time is that.”
“Is this finally a job?”
“You’re not going to say you can’t do it because you’re busy, are you?”
“Of course not.”

I can leave this job to Karin and come back.

“That. Is it investigating the anti-manaists?”
“No. It’s something else. Do you remember Cabalstro’s brothers, who I mentioned last time…?”
“Ah. They’ve been found recently, right?”

They’re a professional pleasure-killer group that worships a monotheistic god.

“I’m planning to use the Paladin’s power to annihilate them all this time. They’ve been acting very elusive and committing atrocities, but… if we have our Paladin, we might be able to put an end to their atrocities.”

Good.

“Take this.”

I took the document.

“First of all, the thing to watch out for is that they wield the power of an evil god. They’re weaker than the paladins… but they still have some trump cards. They’re worshipers of an evil god, so be careful.”
“Hehehe, I’m always thinking about that, so there’s no need to worry.”

In the first place, if they’re similar to ordinary paladins, they’re not my match. Anyway, they’re literally priests and warriors who worship an evil god.

I roughly opened the document and listened to the explanation. Apparently, they had recently appeared in the central region of the kingdom, and the paladins were fiercely pursuing them. But these guys are masters of escape and have a natural talent for it, so the pursuit was cut off in the mountains.

“This is…”

With Hilde and Ari, they’re pushovers.

“Can you do it?”
“I’ll try. Then I’ll go do some work for a while.”
“Hmph, how long has it been since you defeated the Valkyrie… You’re working so hard even though you received such a big reward. Don’t you just do everything you’re told?”
“It’s all for the future. What would a person become if they just played around because they have a lot of money now?”
“You’re really diligent.”
“Well.”

As usual, she got up from her seat and demanded a kiss from me, and I accepted it and said goodbye. I’ll just go home and read the document.

* * *

After returning, I told them the facts.

“So, Karin, I’m going to go to work for a while. I think you’ll have to do the rest of the work. Is that okay?”

Karin would have to stay here and do the work of finding out about the Marquis’s assets. Normally, we would do it together, but I have to go to work.

“Well, if you’re working, I can’t help it.”
“But can you do it? I’m so worried.”
“What do you think of your sister?”

Just as Karin was about to get up, Liztina approached and said.

“Then I’ll have to help. Karin can’t do that alone.”
“Hey, you.”
“Can you do that better than me?”
“That’s a bit…”
“Then just be my bodyguard. I’ll find out everything.”

It would be more reliable to have Liztina take the lead in this. Honestly, Liztina is more professional than Karin in this area.

“Kat-sama. Anyway, this time, you’re searching for the heretics who worship the evil god, right? Then I can’t miss out!”
“Yeah. I believe in you, Hilde.”
“Just trust me!”

As expected.

I immediately looked at Risha, and she said with a apologetic face.

“This one has something to do with Winia.”
“Sorry I can’t help you, you darkie.”

Are those two up to something?

“Well, is it because of the crown?”
“That too…”
“I am ashamed to say that I have not yet clarified it. I will look into it with Winia… so I don’t think I can go this time.”

If that’s the case.

“I can’t help it. Please find out.”

If those two are out, then what’s left is…

“Then, Kat. Shall we go with the four of us this time?”
“Let’s do that.”

I guess we’re going with the four of us this time.

Anyway, Karin and Liztina, and Winia and Risha decided to stay here and help with the asset management, and I, Claudia, Ari, and Hilde decided to go together.